Take Care
by T2 Angel
Summary: Sitting alone during Squall & Rinoa's reception, Quistis is having a hard time dealing with her conflicting emotions. And the most unlikely person comes to her offer a shoulder to lean on. One-Shot.


**A/N: It's 3AM when I am posting this... what am I doing?! lol.  
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**Alright, guys, this requires a bit of explanation: I'm a HUGE Final Fantasy VIII fan. I've written a ton of work for my personal pleasure but realized I hadn't written one to post yet. Well, this is my first step to rectify that.**

**Next, I am a HUGE Quistis fan. That is I LOOOOOVE her! (Go see my profile) I think she got shafted in the game as far as love goes. And, why Zell is not my first pick for her (but to me, none of them are good enough for her, lol), this story came to me and made a lot of sense to me. I used the song "Take Care" to help with the framework and it worked in my head and I believe it worked with the finished product.  
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**This might be new favorite. Let me know what you guys think! I wrote it fast but I'm very proud of it! I hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Final Fantasy VIII or "Take Care" by Drake featuring Rihanna. This is just a fan made work.**

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**Take Care**

Quistis couldn't help it. She's only human. She had to get out of there. If only for a few moments, she had to get away; away from the reception of the wedding of the man whom she still had feelings for.

Squall and Rinoa's wedding reception.

She'd known this was going to happen a year before it did but that didn't mean she had fully moved on. Or that she was even ready to. Heck, she had even been dating much to begin trying to move on.

Didn't stop Selphie from chiming in the other night when they talked. The cheery SeeD tried to give the instructor a lecture on how she was feeling and how wrong she was but Quistis rebuffed her friend. She didn't feel like hearing it. What did Selphie know anyway? She had Irvine and, to everyone's surprise, they were actually going strong; this left Selphie with no right to comment on how Quistis was feeling. Selphie was just one more person Quistis was getting away from.

She had been sitting outside on steps of the Esthar's Presidential Residence for the past fifteen minutes, trying to get her wits back. It wasn't working. She bowed her head… she wanted to cry. But she was afraid someone would find her and see her cry. She didn't want anyone to see how unhappy she was at the blessed event. Most people would figure out why she was crying… even if they didn't, she didn't want all of the questions. It was why she was alone. Even alone, she did her best not to cry. But she couldn't help it; keeping a brave front this long was hard, especially on this day. So… she decided to risk it. She set a few tears free. She could risk that, she thought. She figured no harm, no…

"Quistis?"

She looked up to find Zell standing over her with a worried look on his face.

But Quistis didn't notice the worry. She just saw the loud mouth of Balamb Garden, the jokester, standing over her. And he saw her crying. '_Oh, Hyne…_' She quickly wiped her eyes. Now, she'd never hear the end of it. He was probably thinking of a joke already. And she wasn't in the mood for it. If anything, it would probably make her cry harder.

He started to open his mouth.

Here it comes…

"Are you okay?" Zell asked. Nothing but concern was in his voice.

She was surprised. It was then she noticed the worry of his facial expression as well as his tone. "Umm… I'm-I'm fine."

He sat next to her. His face still radiated concern. "You sure?"

She looked into his eyes and couldn't believe it… he was genuinely concerned. Zell Dincht… actually cared. "Umm… look, Zell… I… don't feel comfortable talking to you about this…"

He looked at her confused. He looked around then back at the blonde instructor. "About what? You haven't even said what's going on."

That was true. She hadn't said a thing about why she was crying. Why had she said that just now? "Yeah, I… guess I didn't."

"I mean… if you don't wanna talk, that's cool. I was just checking up on you."

"Checking on me?" His words seemed foreign to her. But it was more his attitude that was alien to her, as far as Zell was concerned, anyway. She wasn't used to this side of him. She wasn't even sure she'd ever seen it before.

"Yeah. I didn't see you inside and got worried."

"You were worried about me?"

Zell chuckled, "Yeah. I mean… we're at a party and you suddenly disappear, I get a little worried."

To her surprise, it actually made her smile. "Thanks, Zell." A strange feeling came over her. For some reason… she couldn't stop herself from asking this next question. "I'm… okay, I guess, but… would you mind just staying out here with me for a while?"

He smiled and nodded. "Sure. No problem."

They sat in silence, looking out over the gorgeous Esthar City. It was beautiful at night. The lights made it look like it was a universe all on its own. It was peaceful, serene, and relaxing, once Quistis got a good look at it. It helped momentarily relieve her of her troubles… and caring company did help. Zell leaned back, putting his elbows on the next step up and he started his head in a rhythmic sync. Soon, he started quietly making a sound to match with his throat.

Quistis noticed the sounds he was making. She looked over at him and giggled, "What are you doing?"

"What?" he looked at her, perplexed. He was doing it so absentmindedly he didn't realize what just happened.

She giggled again, "You were beat boxing, just now."

He groaned and hit his forehead. "I did it again?" He lowered his hand, "I'm sorry. I've had this song stuck in my head for weeks and haven't gotten it out yet. The only good thing about it is I've been driving Irvine crazy with it."

She giggled again.

Zell paused. "Wait." He started at her, quizzically. "Did you just say… 'beat boxing'?" His eyes grew wide, "You know what beat boxing is?!"

"Don't look that surprised."

"Quistis…" he smiled, "I didn't know you were that cool."

She blinked in surprise. She'd never been called 'cool' in her life. "It's not cool. I used to use it, primarily, to calculate steps in battle when I was younger, before I got the hang of fighting without it. It helped me keep a steady pace. That's the only time it really works. It's the only form of musical inclination I have. And I'm terrible at that."

"So am I." He looked back at the city, "But it's just that one song."

"Which song is it?"

He smirked. He looked over at her. "It's called 'Take Care.'"

She paused… and smiled. 'Take Care' was a recent hit and rather hard to escape; didn't make it a bad song, though. She looked down at the ground, the space in between them. "I love that song."

"Didn't think it was your style."

She gave a slight shrug. "It speaks to me."

With that statement, Zell finally put the pieces together… at least, he was kind of sure he had. "Quistis? Are you having relationship trouble?"

She sighed and looked up at the night sky. "I need to be _in_ one to have trouble."

"So… what's with the sad song and stuff?"

She looked at him. She didn't want to hear Selphie's nagging… then again, Zell could nag, too. But, she just had to get this off her chest. It was starting to constrict her. "If I tell you this… do you promise to keep it between us? And I mean, really swear, Zell. If you tell anyone, on my soul, we will never talk again."

He put his hands up in, hoping to calm her down, "Okay, okay, I promise."

She groaned. She took a deep breath. And let it out in an exhale, "I… still have feelings for Squall."

He looked at her, stunned. All of the words were running through his head as he processed them. After ten seconds, the full weight of what she said hit him. "Hold up, wait!" He shook his head. "You had a thing for Squall?"

She nodded.

He looked straight ahead. "Whoa. Did not see that coming." He looked back at her. "And you still do?"

"Only a little. Made it hard to watch the ceremony."

The realization came to the tattooed fighter. "And why you're sitting out here. I get it now."

She sighed, "Yeah, I know, I know! I shouldn't… I should have just gotten over it already! But… but…"

"And why should you have done that?"

That question took her aback. "Because he just got married?"

"Yeah. And you still like the guy. Just 'cause he changed doesn't mean you have. You haven't gotten any real chance to move on, yet. No need to feel embarrassed or bad just because he's married and you're still crushing on him."

Hyne… how simple was that answer… and meaningful? "Well…" she stammered, "I-I mean…"

"Quistis… just 'cause you're working on accepting it… doesn't mean you're all the way over it. And you don't have to be… not yet. You're still working on it." He chuckled, "Heck! It's not like you're trying to sabotage Squall and Rinoa. You would've done it already! Come to think of it, you probably would've gotten away with it, too."

She laughed. "Yeah… I guess I would have."

"So, see? No harm, no foul. You're still awesome, smart, beautiful Quistis."

That meant a lot to her. "Thanks, Ze…" She stared at him. "Beautiful?"

He let out a throated grunt… a loud one.

"You… think I'm beautiful?"

Zell's mouth fell open and no words came out. He sat up straight. He didn't look at her. "I, uh… I think I should go back inside…" He started to move to stand up.

"Zell."

He paused.

"Why is 'Take Care' stuck in your head?"

He settled back in his seated position. He looked at her. Then looked away. He exhaled. "Irvine… said Selphie told him… you were crushing over someone you couldn't have… and it was hurting you a lot…" He stopped, rubbed the back of his head, and sighed again. "I just… thought… maybe…" He dropped his hand and exhaled. He decided there was only way to get his point across: to quote the song itself. "…I could… always tell… just by how you carry yourself… that you were hurt… by someone else… part of me always that… just… if you'd let me… I'd… take care of you…"

Quistis paused. Talk about a revelation. And the even bigger shock was who giving it and the cause of it. "And how long have you wanted to… take care of me?"

Zell paused. "When did our memories come back?"

"That long?"

He nodded.

They sat in silence, neither really knowing what to say next. Figuring he'd already gone this far, however, the hand-to-hand expert figured he might as well finish what he started.

"I remember…" Zell began, "…when we were at Matron's. You would always look out for me. I never forgot that. Not really. Even when I forgot all of us… I remembered… someone was always watching out for me. When I got to the Garden… I didn't remember us as kids but…" He looked at her. "I remember seeing you smile."

Quistis blushed.

"My first day… and the thing I remember most… is you smiling at me. I knew I'd seen that smile somewhere before… after our memories came back, I remembered where. It was the same smile… that kept me going when I thought I wasn't gonna make it."

She stared at him, aghast. She couldn't believe it. She never imagined Zell felt this way… in the least.

He exhaled, whispering, "Shouldn't have said that… uh…" He rubbed the back of his head again, "Look, umm… sorry, Quistis… I'm not trying to… well… I mean…" He couldn't find the words he was looking for… made even worse since he couldn't seem to shut up while he looked for them. He managed to find the find the brakes for his tongue and stood up. In a defeated tone, he said, "I'll just… go inside…" He started to turn around and head up the stairs. He didn't fully place foot on the next step before Quistis grabbed hold of his wrist.

He looked down at her, perplexed, and saw her slowly stand up.

Her head was bowed the whole time.

Zell didn't know what to think.

She lifted her eyes to his… and he saw the same thing he saw his first day at the Garden: her gorgeous smile.

She slowly leaned forward toward him… and kissed him on the lips. Zell almost couldn't believe it. What he really couldn't believe… was how amazing Quistis was at kissing… really good at it.

After the kiss, they parted, looking into one another's eyes.

Zell could only utter a single word: "Wow…"

Quistis smiled. "I can't tell you how much of a confidence booster that is."

"Just…" he tried to figure out something more to say, something Quistis-worthy. But all he could come up with was, "…wow."

"Zell… I can't promise that everything will work out right away… or that I won't be a mess for a long time… or-or that… I can be the kind of girl you've imagined… but…"

"Hey," he interrupted. "If you're even willing to give an insane guy like me a chance… I'll take it."

She stared into his eyes… and found nothing but the truth. "You really mean it, don't you?"

He gave a quick nod. "I like you, Quistis. I don't care if you are going through something… that was never a part of it. I just… like you."

Quistis was still smiling and tears were starting to fall. She lowered her face, staring down at the ground. "I would've waited forever to hear anyone to say to me."

Cupping her chin, he lifted her face to his so their eyes could meet. "You don't have to, anymore."

She was loving these eyes of his. Why had she never noticed them before? If she didn't know any better… she would swear there was something special in his eyes when he was looking at her. "I like you, too, Zell. I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't."

He smiled.

"I know I'm a mess… but, believe me, when I say… I'm all yours."

"Right back at ya."

She smiled.

He stared… then, suddenly, looked… extremely nervous. "Now… as… a-as far as kissing goes… like… I mean… can I kiss you or is it just a 'you can kiss me' thing?"

She smiled. She joked, "I don't remember saying you couldn't kiss me."

He was still nervous. "I… I-I just don't wanna…"

"Oh, for goodness sake, Zell! Will you kiss me already?"

"Right!" He swiftly pressed his lips to hers.

She giggled as she became absorbed by the kiss. The feeling was easy to get lost in for both of them. She put her arms around his neck and, out of instinct, the fighter wrapped his arms around her waist.

After their kiss, they stood holding each other, staring in each other's eyes. Quistis couldn't help but forget all of her problems she just had minutes ago. This made all of the difference. Zell almost couldn't believe this was happening… but was enjoying it all the same.

"By the way…" Quistis whispered. "you're quite the 'wow' worthy kisser yourself."

Zell chuckled. "Thanks."

She got real close to his ear. "Thank you, Zell… for being there for me…" She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.

He pulled her closer, inhaling her scent. "I can tell you honestly… it's all I ever wanted to do…"

Neither of them had any idea what was going to happen past tonight. However, right now, at this moment… they didn't care. For even though this just happened, they knew they had each other to see them through.

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**A/N: REVIEWS, PLEASE! I REALLY want to know what you guys think!**


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